Adjustable tightening lock for shoes



Nov. 14, 1967 P. LOLLMANN I ADJUSTABLE TIGHTENING LOCK FOR S HOES 7Filed June 13, 1966 IFIG..3

FIG/2 INVENTOR Paul Lollmann i ye nCyS BY PM AHor United States Patent3,351,535 ADJUSTABLE TIGHTENING LOCKFOR SHQES Paul Lollmann, Tuttlingen,Germany, assignor to Rieker & (10., Tuttlingen, Germany Filed June 13,1966, Ser. No. 557,004 Claims priority, applicatig; 3Giermaiiry, Dec.24, 1965,

3 Claims. ((51. 24-70 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present inventionrelates to an adjustable tightening lock for shoes and especially skiboots which comprises a tightening lever which is provided with a row ofteeth and pivotably secured to one part of the upper of the shoe or bootand an eye member which is secured to another part of the upper and isadapted to be hooked into one or another of the tooth gaps on thetighten ng lever.

For varying the distance between two different parts of a shoe or boot,for example, for varying the w dth of the upper, the tightening lever ofsuch a lock is pivoted upwardly from its closed or locking position tosuch an extent that the eye member which was previously hooked into onetooth gap of the lever may then be ShIfICG IO another tooth gap. Intightening locks of the types which were known prior to this invention,this operation had to be carried out by hand. This may sometimes bediflicult, especially when the wearer of the shoes has only one freehand which he then needs merely for operating the tightening lever.

It is an objective of the present invention to overcome thisdisadvantage by providing the tightening lock with a spring which, afterthe eye member has been hooked into one of the tooth gaps of thereleased tightening lever, presses this eye member against the lever.This spring may be mounted within the bearing of the eye member. Theteeth of the tightening lever between which the connect ng eye is hookedare provided on the side of the lever which faces the upper when thelever is closed, and the backs of these teeth are inclined from theirbase in the direction toward the free end or handle of the lever. If theeye member of the tightening lock is at first hooked, for example, intothe lowest tooth gap of the tightening lever so that, when the latter isclosed, the two parts of the boot which are held together by the lockwill at first be drawn relatively loosely together, and if the wearer ofthe boots subsequently wishes to draw the two parts more tightlytogether, he only needs to lift the t ghtening lever by hand from itsclosed position. During this lifting movement, the eye member will slideunder the action of the spring along the inclined back of the toothwhich defines the upper side of this tooth gap until the lever is liftedfar enough so that the eye member can slide over the tip of this toothand snap under the spring action into the next higher tooth gap. Whenthe tightening lever is then closed again, the two parts of the shoewill be more tightly drawn together than previously. If the wearer thenfinds that the two parts of the boot should be drawn still more "icetightly together, he only needs to lift the lever again and slightlyhigher than previously so that the eye member will then slideautomatically into the next higher tooth gap. Thus, if a ski boot isprovided with a tightening lock according to the invention, the weareronly needs to use one hand for operating the tightening lever and he nolonger needs his other hand for shifting the eye member from one toothgap to another in order to adjust the lock so as to permit the two bootparts to be drawn more tightly together. 1

Another advantage of the tightening lock according to the invention isthe fact that, if the wearer of the boots wishes to loosen the upper onthe foot and therefore opens the lock and separates the eye member fromthe tightening lever, the eye member will be held by the spring in afixed position. In similar tightening locks prior to this invention theeye member was freely movable after being separated from the tighteninglever, which had the disadvantage that during the skiing the metalliceye member would constantly hit against the metallic lever and therebycause a rattling noise.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become furtherapparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to beread with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the front part of a ski boot whichis provided with a tightening lock according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the connecting eye memberof the tightening lock according to FIGURE 1; while FIGURE 3 shows anenlarged perspective view of a modification of the eye member accordingto FIGURE 1.

In FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the two front parts 1 and 2 of the upper ofa ski boot are illustrated which are to be held together by means of theadjustable tightening lock according to the invention, the two mainelements of which consist of a tightening lever 6 and an eye member 9.The tightening lever 6 is pivotably mounted at one end on a bearingbracket which consists of two parallel arms 4 and 5 which are spacedfrom each other and project upwardly from a base plate 3 which issecured by rivets to the part 1 of the upper. One side of this lever 6facing the boot part 1 when the lever is in its closed or lockingposition is provided with a row of teeth 7 which are designed so thatthe tooth gaps into which the member 9 may be hooked are inclined fromtheir base in the direction toward the free end or handle 6- of thelever.

The eye member 9 is pivotably mounted on a fitting 8 which is riveted tothe other boot part 2. A spring 10 acts upon the eye member 9 so asalways to press the latter when hooked into one of the tooth gaps oflever 6 against the inclined back of the next tooth 7 toward the handle6' of the lever. Consequently, when lever 6 is opened to the position asshown in FIGURE 1, the eye member 9 will automatically slide upwardlyfrom a lower tooth gap into the next higher tooth gap, that is, into onewhich is located closer to the handle 6'. This sliding movement occursvery easily due to the fact that the backs of the teeth 7 are inclinedtoward the handle 6'.

While the spring 10 according to FIGURES 1 and 2 simply consists of anangularly bent wire, FIGURE 3 shows a modification in which this springis provided in the form of a spiral spring.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments but iscapable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. An adjustable tightening lock for shoes comprising a tightening leverand pivot means for pivotably connecting said lever at one end to onepart of the shoe, said lever having a roW of teeth on one side thereoffacing said shoe part when the lever is closed, an eye member, pivotmeans for pivotably connecting said eye member to another part of theshoe, said eye member being adapted to be hooked into one or another ofthe tooth gaps of said lever, and a spring adapted to pivot said eyemember in the upward direction against said one side of the tighteninglever so that, when said lever is opened, said eye member will slideunder the action of said spring from the tooth gap in which it is hookedinto another tooth gap which is more remote from said pivot means ofsaid tightening lever.

2. An adjustable tightening lock as defined in claim 1, in which saidspring is mounted on said pivot means of said eye member.

4 3. An adjustable tightening look as defined in claim 1, in which thebacks of said teeth are inclined in the direction toward the free end ofsaid lever.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 461,254 10/1891 Barrows 292-250570,670 11/ 1896 Livermore 292-250 3,287,774 ll/l966 Binding et al. 2470FOREIGN PATENTS 17,643 8/1913 Denmark.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MILTON S. MEI-IR, Examiner.

1. AN ADJUSTABLE TIGHTENING LOCK FOR SHOES COMPRISING A TIGHTENING LEVERAND PIVOT MEANS FOR PIVOTABLY CONNECTING SAID LEVER AT ONE END TO ONEPART OF THE SHOE, SAID LEVER HAVING A ROW OF TEETH ON ONE SIDE THEREOFFACING SAID SHOE PART WHEN THE LEVER IS CLOSED, AN EYE MEMBER, PIVOTMEANS FOR PIVOTABLY CONNECTING SAID EYE MEMBER TO ANOTHER PART OF THESHOE, SAID EYE MEMBER BEING ADAPTED TO BE HOOKED INTO ONE ANOTHER OF THETOOTH GAPS OF SAID LEVER, AND A SPRING ADAPTED TO PIVOT SAID EYE MEMBERIN THE UPWARD DIRECTION AGAINST SAID ONE SIDE OF THE TIGHTENING LEVER SOTHAT, WHEN SAID LEVER IS OPENED, SAID EYE MEMBER WILL SLIDE UNDER THEACTION OF SAID SPRING FROM THE TOOTH GAP IN WHICH IT IS HOOKED INTOANOTHER TOOTH GAP WHICH IS MORE REMOTE FROM SAID PIVOT MEANS OF SAIDTIGHTENING LEVER.